Mum of student killed in Strand crash ‘almost reached her’ as she lay dying

The mum of a student killed in the Strand crash was just yards from her injured daughter, but unable to reach her as she lay on the ground dying.

Aalia Mahomed, 20, died, and two others were injured when a van crashed into the pedestrianised area outside King’s College London campus on the Strand.

The second-year physics and philosophy student was sitting down with friends outside the university when the van ploughed through the closed gates on March 18.

Her family described Aalia as a ‘ray of sunshine’ as they tried to come to terms with her sudden death.

Samira Shafi, Aalia’s mum, described how she rushed to the crash scene after being alerted by her daughter’s friend.

Samira told BBC London: ‘I got a call from Aalia’s friend. There was just blue lights everywhere, it was cordoned off.

‘It is a pedestrian zone and it’s really hard to make sense of any of it because she wasn’t doing anything dangerous – she was sitting on a bench in a pedestrian area in some sunshine.’

The mum reached the area in 10 minutes after the frightening call.

But as the emergency scene was cordoned off, she couldn’t get to her injured daughter.

She continued: ‘I was told to stay back quietly because several people had been hurt, and so that’s what I did.

‘But later on based on the time that I got there, I worked out that I was there for nine minutes before Aalia’s death was called.

‘Maybe if she’d heard my voice she might have pulled through.’

She added: ‘Aalia wasn’t just a daughter, she was my best friend and my rock.’

Samira said that although an investigation is being carried out, the past eight weeks ‘have felt like a lifetime.’

She said: ‘I haven’t got answers to what happened that day.

‘It’s been slow. I keep being told an investigation is being carried out and these things take time, which I appreciate.

‘But the silence is quite difficult for us because for us these eight weeks have felt like a lifetime.’

She said she appreciates there is a process ‘that needs to take place, but I would hope it’s done as swiftly as possible to get us on some level of clarity.’

A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and on suspicion of drug driving. He remains on bail.

Metro understands that family liaison officers are in contact with the family.

Chief Superintendent Thomas Naughton, from the Met’s roads and transport policing command, told Metro: ‘Aalia’s family continue to be supported by specialist officers, we regularly meet with them to discuss the progress of the investigation and to ensure they are receiving the support they need.

‘Our investigation continues at pace and we are working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service. A 26-year-old man remains under investigation on conditional police bail following his arrest at the scene.’

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